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Steam on Linux is going to be awesome. I don't even want to game on Windows anymore without Steam because handling all the games, updates, friend lists, savegames etc. is such a hassle but it's even worse on Linux (imho). That all gets sorted with Steam.

Steam on Linux is going to be awesome. I don't even want to game on Windows anymore without Steam because handling all the games, updates, friend lists, savegames etc. is such a hassle but it's even worse on Linux (imho). That all gets sorted with Steam.

While I mainly agree: Will I still be able to run these games in 15 years from now?
If I want to play Dungeon Keeper, and I still do from time to time, I grab my old CD from '97 and run it flawless with DOSBox...

While I mainly agree: Will I still be able to run these games in 15 years from now?
If I want to play Dungeon Keeper, and I still do from time to time, I grab my old CD from '97 and run it flawless with DOSBox...

You should be able to, where as in the converse, using DOSBox (which is available on Linux) isn't exactly a ringing endoursement for windows, is it?

Some old win games with 16 bit setup apps (or native 16 bit apps) will not even work with windows 9 - as there will be no 32 bit variant. For dos games you need dosbox of course - even on win if is is a newer release. Basically there are some old id games using dosbox on steam even for win, those could be easly implemented for linux - via dosbox or via native clients.

Sorry, my post was actually aiming at the DRM situation.
I must admit, mentioning DOSBox was misleading.
The point was to say that there are good chances
to overcome plain OS hurdles. But DRM is a different beast...
So, will I be able to play the gems of this time
I purchased (or rent) over Steam in say 15 years?

Probably not...

Obviously this concern is not actually new.
But everytime I read statements that neglect the
disadvantages of Steam (and other DRM platforms)
I simply feel obliged to raise this concern (again).

Sorry, my post was actually aiming at the DRM situation.
I must admit, mentioning DOSBox was misleading.
The point was to say that there are good chances
to overcome plain OS hurdles. But DRM is a different beast...
So, will I be able to play the gems of this time
I purchased (or rent) over Steam in say 15 years?

Probably not...

Obviously this concern is not actually new.
But everytime I read statements that neglect the
disadvantages of Steam (and other DRM platforms)
I simply feel obliged to raise this concern (again).

Honest answer:

No ones knows what will happen to PC gaming or the desktop PC in 15 years. Maybe Steam is still the #1 and you can run the games just fine. Maybe you need to use an older computer with an older Linux distribution (which I think is fine, because you are probably not going to suddenly play old games daily but just one or two games for nostalgia reasons). And if Valve went bankrupt, they would release patches to remove the Steam checks (if the game developers wouldn't patch their games to run without it before). There's no guarantee for that of course. Steam is still the best solution right now though.

No ones knows what will happen to PC gaming or the desktop PC in 15 years. Maybe Steam is still the #1 and you can run the games just fine. Maybe you need to use an older computer with an older Linux distribution (which I think is fine, because you are probably not going to suddenly play old games daily but just one or two games for nostalgia reasons). And if Valve went bankrupt, they would release patches to remove the Steam checks (if the game developers wouldn't patch their games to run without it before). There's no guarantee for that of course. Steam is still the best solution right now though.

Pratically no publivher would allow the removal of the DRM, though solutions might be made for active titles.